On the Rocks: Patti Davis, Ronald and...

On the Rocks: Patti Davis, Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s estranged daughter, is estranged from her husband, according to the New York Daily News. Davis, 37, has been living apart from yoga instructor Paul Grilley, who she married in 1984, for about a month, the News said. Davis’ acting career failed to take off and she began writing novels--first with “Home Front,” with parallels to her family, and then “Deadfall,” a thriller about Nicaragua--and neither reportedly pleased her parents.

Literary Lore: College studies that stress well-known Western art and literature over works of blacks, women or other groups are a form of white supremacy, said Amiri Baraka in Charlottesville, Va., last week. The poet and playwright urged a University of Virginia audience to fight literary canons that elevate European art and literature above all other forms. Art and literature should not be segregated but should instead reflect the variety of people in the world, he said. Baraka’s writings include 24 plays, seven works of non-fiction and 11 books of poetry.

Peace Pipe: Jacqueline Onassis and the Wampanoag Indians are nearing an agreement to end a 10-year struggle over beachfront property on Martha’s Vineyard, officials in Gay Head, Mass., said last week. The Indians have agreed to exchange the land for money and another tract. The Wampanoags say Chief Moshup and his wife, Squant, are buried in the 264-foot stretch of land. Onassis’ 380-acre estate surrounds the property, but the Indians retained a right of access to the site.

The Old Home Town: George Bush saluted Greenwich, Conn., his childhood hometown, as its 350th birthday approaches, saying it gave him a “strong foundation and values” as sturdy as the trees that grow there. “I am pleased to send my warmest greetings and congratulations to the people of Greenwich as you celebrate the . . . founding of this beautiful town,” Bush wrote in a letter to Greenwich First Selectman John Margenot. According to Bush’s letter, the town was founded in July, 1640.